On Thursday, an emergency shelter on Bailey Avenue was told they would have to cease operations no later than noon on Friday, potentially displacing between 60 and 80 people before a major heatwave.
Outdoor plans? Today is the day before oppressive heat begins to build through the weekend, and peaks early next week. There however will be a few thunderstorms to dodge this afternoon and evening across WNY, so keep an eye to the sky. #Firstdayofsummer pic.twitter.com/8tTh2XR2uS
— NWS Buffalo (@NWSBUFFALO) June 20, 2025
“We are waiting to hear back. They gave us 24 hours. I have not heard directly from the city. We don't know what's going to happen at 12 o'clock today,” Nadia Pizarro told BTPM Friday morning. Pizarro is the co-chair of the Code Blue Collaborative with the Western New York Coalition for the Homeless and the client services manager at Sylvia's House.
The order blindsided the director of Sylvia’s House, Felicia Cruz.
“We get a lot of drop-offs from the hospitals, and those individuals have medical needs,” said Cruz. “I have individuals that have cancer, that are homeless, and so all these people are going to just be displaced.”
Pizarro said originally the city told them they would have to vacate immediately. After workers pushed back saying occupants would have nowhere to go and that they weren’t aware of permitting issues, they were given 24 hours to leave.
“Our people are scared. Our people are in tears. Like, we have 23 extremely vulnerable people. We have youth. We have people with medical conditions who are medically frail. We have elderly people,” Pizarro added.
Acting Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon said the order came about due to issues city inspectors have with permits and code.
"We have to make sure first of all that the people in the building are safe. That's one of the major concerns," said Scanlon. "Lack of license, permit, no inspection. We don't know if that it is fully safe for people to be in there. As well as some additional activity that's been taking place over there that's been negatively impacting the neighborhood. "
It wasn’t until after the noon deadline for Sylvia’s House to vacate that BTPM NPR found out from an Erie County spokesperson that “housing will be provided to individuals in the meantime thanks to collaborative efforts involving county and city officials and shelter providers based in Buffalo.” The county did not elaborate on where or for how long people would be provided shelter.
Scanlon said the city is "having conversations with the county" about the shelter.
The news of the closure order upset many client residents of Sylvia's House, like Jeff, who said the organization and how they provide services is unlike any other in the area.
“I've probably been through five or six different shelters, and it's typical, very institutionalized setting, and they don't bring the level of compassion that you find with this staff that really does go above and beyond,” he said. “It's more like a family atmosphere, and it's noticed by the residents here, and in turn, we treat them like family too.”
Jeff feels like Sylvia’s House, people experiencing homelessness and people with disabilities are getting put in the middle of a political back and forth.
“I believe there's a level of predatory political practices that are taking place, and it seems to follow these poor people wherever they go,” said Jeff. “That's not the first instance. And what's the legal recourse from keeping this from happening again? I wish that critical path would be mapped out.”
Sylvia's House, which is located within a church at 1947 Bailey Avenue, recently moved to this location after struggling to find somewhere that would house this emergency shelter. They were previously at a location on Genesee Street, and then temporary locations before moving to the New Life Harvest Church, Cruz and board member Diana Proske said with the help of Erie County officials.
“We're asking the City of Buffalo, anyone, to help us find a location. We will not leave there without a place to go for these people. I will not put 65 people on the street,” Pizarro said.
Pizarro has been with Code Blue since its inception over a decade ago. In this time, she said they’ve never had to get a special permit for their Code Blue shelters, because they are an emergency service rather than a traditional homeless shelter.
Diana Proske, a board member of the WNY Coalition for the Homeless told BTPM, “it's my understanding that the church that owns the building has a special use permit.”
“To my knowledge, the city has never, ever shown up. I mean, we were at Holy Cross for several years. They never said anything about us being there. We've been at various locations over the years because it's hard to find a location for a program like this, you know, that meets all of our needs and is the right size,” Proske said. “But yeah, to my knowledge, the city has never approached us about anything like this.”
According to publicly available Open Buffalo databases, the most recent code violation for 1947 Bailey was in 2020. The database says it was last updated on June 20, 2025. BTPM reached out to Buffalo’s Permit & Inspection Services office and requested copies of all permits, inspections and code violations for 1947 Bailey in 2024 and 2025. We have not yet heard back.
“The way that the person spoke to us was very flip, like ‘you could just find another place. This is Erie County. You could just go to another... you could go to Amherst. You could go to Cheektowaga. You can go to somewhere else.’ Like, if we had anywhere else to go, we would not be there,” Pizarro said of their interaction with the city on Thursday.
“We would be in something that can actually accommodate the capacity we need. We spent a month in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, where it barely could fit us. And then found this rectory. The people love it because it feels like an actual home, and now they're being told they have to leave. This is cruel.”
An Erie County spokesperson told BTPM at 12:34 p.m. on Friday, “county officials are aware of the situation. Erie County remains committed to working with the operators of Sylvia's House to ensure the Bailey Avenue facility is brought up to code to meet the requirements of the City of Buffalo's Department of Permit and Inspection Services.”
“County officials have been assured that there will be an increased security presence at the site and all issues related to smoke detectors and other important safety system devices will be addressed,” the statement continued.
Proske said their emergency shelter serves a population who may not typically be served by or may not feel comfortable accessing a traditional homeless shelter, which is why the loss of Sylvia’s House would create a significant gap in care.
“Some people you know are concerned that they're going to be required to go to different kinds of treatment programs if they go through the traditional shelter system. Other people, you know, they may have income, and because of the way the budgeting methodology works, when you apply for temporary housing assistance, almost all of your income ends up going to the shelter, which leaves you with, you know, very few resources to meet any of your other basic needs,” Proske said.
BTPM NPR also contacted Commissioner of Permit & Inspection Services Catherine Amdur, and have not heard back.
“I guess I wish that they [the city] would help the coalition meet this need, instead of just coming up to us and saying, you can't be here right away,” said Proske.
